Agricultural BiodiversityCase Studies

The programme of work on Agricultural Biodiversity adopted by COP5 includes
activity 2.1:

Carry
out a series of case-studies, in a range of environments and production
systems, and in each region:

To identify key goods and services provided by agricultural
biodiversity, needs for the conservation and sustainable use of
components of this biological diversity in agricultural ecosystems, and
threats to such diversity;

To identify best management practices; and

To monitor and assess the actual and potential impacts of existing
and new agricultural technologies.

This activity would address the multiple goods and services provided by the
different levels and functions of agricultural biodiversity and the
interaction between its various components, as set out in the appendix
hereto with a focus on certain specific and cross-cutting issues, such
as:

The role and potential of wild, under-utilized and neglected species,
varieties and breeds, and products;

The role of genetic diversity in providing resilience, reducing
vulnerability, and enhancing adaptability of production systems to
changing environments and needs;

The synergies and interactions between different components of
agricultural biodiversity;

The role of pollinators, with particular reference to their economic
benefits, and the effects of introduced species on indigenous
pollinators and other aspects of biological diversity;

The role of soil and other below-ground biodiversity in supporting
agricultural production systems, especially in nutrient cycling;

Pest and disease control mechanisms, including the role of natural
enemies and other organisms at field and landscape levels, host plant
resistance, and implications for agro-ecosystem management;

The wider ecosystem services provided by agricultural biodiversity;

The role of different temporal and spatial patterns in mosaics of
land use, including complexes of different habitats;

Possibilities of integrated landscape management as a means for the
conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity.

This follows up on decision
III/11, where COP invited countries to share case-study experiences addressing the
conservation and sustainable use of agricultural biodiversity. Further, COP (decision III/11, Modified by decision
IV/6) encouraged interested Parties and international agencies to conduct case studies on:

Case studies received to date are available on this site. Additional relevant material such as workshop reports and technical papers are also provided.

Additional case studies are invited. Guidelines are available in html
and pdf format (20 kb)

A Contribution to the International Initiative for the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Pollinators: Rapid Assessment of Pollinators’ StatusFAO - Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

Chicken shed model: using local plants to house and feed chickensAvailable under the following link:http://www.unesco.org/most/bpik25.htm Environmental sustainability is achieved because the shed is constructed largely of plants that are part of the local ecosystem. The chicken feed is also made from floristic species and does not introduce foreign substances into the food chain. The excrement of the chickens is collected under the shed, and is used as a natural fertilizer in the home garden or the fields. We are looking for ways to integrate the animal component with the vegetative component in the agro-forestry system.United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)

Agricultural Development at the Intersections: Finding Means of Directing Agricultural Development Towards Sustainability and Biodiversity Conservation, in the Nguruman Area of KenyaInternational Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (ICIPE)

Tanzania Sisal BiogasAvailable under the following link: http://www.thebioenergysite.com/articles/308/tanzania-sisal-biogas Sisal is the most important cash crop, used to produce yarns, ropes, carpets, clothing and composites, and sold to the domestic and international markets. Since 1999 Katani Ltd, a sisal growing company has developed a system of smallholder and out-grower sisal farming, on land owned by the company and in the surrounding areas. Katani has developed the first biogas plant in the world to convert sisal biomass to biogas. This is used to run electricity generators which power production machinery, with excess electricity supplied to out-growers/smallholders homes, schools and hospitals.The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)

Sustainable domestication of indigenous fruit trees: the interaction between soil and biotic resources in drylands of southern Africa• Use of indigenous tree species. The
• Use of indigenous knowledge. The local populations know which trees are the best trees for production, both quantitatively and qualitatively (sweetness of fruit). We base our search for superior phenotypes on this indigenous knowledge. Relevance: • ECONOMIC SUSTAINABILITY is achieved by providing additional income and a potentially new source of income for some of the fruits.
• ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY is achieved by making better use of natural resources and native trees to decrease soil degradation and desertification.
• OTHER: The practice increases the vitamin content of the local diet, which is otherwise poor in vitamins.United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)

An environmental impact assessment of China's WTO accession : an analysis of six sectorsInternational Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD). 2004. An environmental impact assessment of China's WTO accession: an analysis of six sectors. Published by the IISD, Winnipeg, Manitoba, 220 pp.

Women’s innovations in rural livelihood systems in arid areas of TunisiaAppication: Innovations related to crops included fig pollination techniques and the use of plastic bottles for the water-efficient irrigation of melons. For example, one 70 year old woman, uses 1.5-litre plastic bottles to irrigate watermelons and melons. She buries each bottle in the soil with the cork downwards. In the cork she has made tiny holes with a needle so that water is released immediately beside the plant. She fills the bottles with water from a cistern fed by run-off rainwater. The water infiltrates slowly near the plant roots and thus escapes the evaporation that is so rapid in this region.United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)

Utilization of Agricultural Biodiversity for Management of Cereal Stemborers and Striga Weed in Maize Based Cropping Systems in Africa - A case studyKenyaInternational Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology

Traditional multi-purpose tool used in agriculture in Gujarat, IndiaThe economy achieved by a single tool that can serve at least 11 different purposes helps to ensure the sustainability of the practice. The practice has also given local artisans a boost. Their knowledge and skills are sustained by being recognized and put to good use.United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)

Pits for trees: how farmers in semi-arid Burkina Faso increase and diversify plant biomassAvailable under the following link: http://www.unesco.org/most/bpik3.htm When the farmers started rehabilitating the tracts of degraded land (z-peele in the More language), the land had only a few large trees from a very limited number of species. Yacouba Sawadogo counted only four: Balanites aegyptiaca, Lannea microcarpa, Guiera senegalensis and Combretum micranthum. Twenty years later, he has more than 60 species of tree on the same land. Yacouba has introduced into his forest several medicinal species which had disappeared from the region. He collected these during his travels outside the Yatenga area. When people come to visit his farm during the wet season, he asks them to dig some planting pits, plant some trees or sow some seeds that he collected.United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)

Case Study: Austria - Incentive for Best Practices in FarmingCase study taken from the CBD Technical Series No. 39 Cross-sectoral toolkit for the conservation and sustainable management of forest biodiversity

Traditional ethno-veterinary medicine in CameroonAvailable under the following link: http://www.unesco.org/most/bpik3.htm Relevance: • Important medicinal plants are being identified and conserved.
• Infectious diseases that could also affect human beings and game animals are increasingly being treated in time to prevent their spread.
• Local people are being trained in the sustainable harvesting of medicinal resources that grow in the wild.United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)

Protection and cultivation of rattan by Hani (Akha) People in Yunnan, southwest ChinaAvailable under the following link: http://www.unesco.org/most/bpik16-2.htm The practice depends for its success on the community’s skills in cultivation, joint management and internal organization. At the same time, however, the practice itself improves families’ livelihoods and strengthens the community.
The practice does pose a danger of overexploitation, however, if the demand for rattan increases and prices go up. External pressure to extract timber could also affect the area of the rattan forest.United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)

The Karez System or the Underground great wallTraditional Water Management Technologies-from the book, “What makes traditional technologies Tick? A review of traditional approaches fro water management in dry lands”. First part in file tttc-UNU-en